METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY v. REID (S13G1812) 04/07/14

• Report rights infringement
• published: 13 Apr 2014
• views: 497

In this Fulton County case, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is appealing a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling that requires MARTA to pay penalties to an employee whose Workers Compensation benefits were late. ORAL ARGUMENTS: Click here for the Court's video: http://www.gasupreme.us/media/oa/040714-S13G1812.php FACTS: Click here to read more: http://www.gasupreme.us/calendars/oas/apr7_2014.pdf In October 1999, Michael Reid suffered an injury while working for MARTA. He filed a claim for benefits with the State Board of Workers' Compensation, and MARTA began paying him "temporary total disability" payments. MARTA made a total of 32 payments between October 1999 and June 2002. But 12 of them were late, according to the schedule required by the workers compensation statute. Reid returned to work in June 2002, at which time his benefits were suspended. In May 2010 — about eight years from his last payment — Reid's attorney sent a letter to MARTA requesting that it pay the penalty due under state law on the 12 payments that were late. According to Official Code of Georgia § 34-9-221, the first workers' compensation payment "shall become due on the twenty-first day after the employer has knowledge of the injury or death." After that, benefits are to be paid weekly. For any that are late, "there shall be added to the accrued income benefits an amount equal to 15 percent thereof, which shall be paid at the same time as, but in addition to, the accrued income benefits... ." MARTA admitted the late checks had not included the mandated penalty, which totaled about $630. But it refused to pay the penalty because, MARTA argued, Reid had failed to raise the issue within the two-year statute of limitations provided in another workers' compensation statute (Official Code of Georgia § 34-9-104), which is entitled: "Modification of award or order contained in prior decision in event of change in condition." MARTA argued that Reid's request was for additional benefits and the withheld penalty constituted a "change in condition" under § 34-9-104. His claim was therefore barred by the two-year limitation period. The statute defines a "change in condition" as "a change in the wage-earning capacity, physical condition, or status of an employee...," which occurred "after the date on which the wage-earning capacity, physical condition, or status of the employee...was last established by award...." An Administrative Law Judge ruled in MARTA's favor and the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers Compensation upheld the decision. Reid appealed to the Fulton County Superior Court, which also agreed that Reid's claim for the penalties resulted from a "change in condition" under the statute and was therefore barred by the statute of limitations. Specifically, the trial court found that the payment of workers' compensation benefits by an employer constitutes a "condition," and that when an employee seeks to recover benefits that were owed but never paid, the employee is seeking "additional" benefits as a result of a change in condition. The Court of Appeals, however, disagreed that Reid's claim involved a change in condition, and it reversed the decision, finding that Reid was not seeking "additional" benefits as a result of a change in his physical or economic condition, but simply the penalty he was due as a result of his employer's late payments. A third statute (§ 34-9-82) simply required him to file his original claim for workers' compensation benefits within a year of his injury, and no one disputes that he did that. "And given this fact, we must conclude that any benefits that previously accrued to Reid as a direct result of his timely-filed claim are not time-barred," the appellate court ruled. "Accordingly, claims seeking to recover such accrued but unpaid penalties are not subject to the limitation period found in § 34-9-104." MARTA now appeals to the state Supreme Court. 04:30 Attorneys for Appellant (MARTA): H. Michael Bagley, J. Benson Ward, John Blackmon, Jr. 22:25 Attorney for Appellee (Reid): Todd Maziar Nydeo by Nydia Tisdale for AboutForsyth.com. Select 1080p for HD quality viewing. Please support Nydeos via PayPal at http://AboutForsyth.net/v3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t;=7648. #MARTA #MichaelReid